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Any tips for improving tempo in the swing?

I am a former baseball player and am having a hard time keeping my upper body and arms from taking over my swing. The result is usually an over the top slice or a pull hook. I am looking for any tips or drills to help me keep my arms and upper body relaxed in the swing. Thanks

Check out some of Paul Wilson's anti-slice videos at Revolution Golf. They have helped my ball striking quite a bit.

His main thing is the reason people slice is they try to swing too hard and the arms take over (causing the "over the top" motion).

Also get out of the mindset of the "big 90 degree-parallel at the top" backswing; overswinging causes an inability to rotate the hips (it cause over-rotating of the hips during the backswing).

Another nice tip is if you do the backswing properly, when you get to the top your conversation should be a bit labored.

A slick drill you can try when in your cube at work or at home is to stand and rotate the shoulders without moving the the hips as much as possible. You should feel resistance.

The root of all evil in golf is the hips not clearing on the downswing. Even Jim McClean mentions in his book "The Three Scoring Clubs" that severely pulled wedge shots are a result of this and sort of indirectly implies the same thing for shanks.

Swing tips can only help if your body allows it. Please take a good look at the MYTPI.com website (if you haven't already) and have a search in the exercise library. Also watch the Golf Academy episodes by the TPI - these guys have contributed to the understanding of the 'swing' to ENCYCLOPEDIC proportions.

The range is not only a place to practice the mechanics of the golf swing, it is also a great place to work on the pre-shot routine. Instead of hitting balls one right after the next, make an effort to slow down, stand behind the ball, visualize the shot, and be aware of the target. This slower thought process is a rhythm that will show in your swing.

I've found that the half swing drill is always great for getting the swing corrected. It should help with all the problems you've mentioned and a bunch more. Add alignment sticks and you can get your setup corrected if you have problems with it too.

I am a former baseball player and am having a hard time keeping my upper body and arms from taking over my swing. The result is usually an over the top slice or a pull hook. I am looking for any tips or drills to help me keep my arms and upper body relaxed in the swing. Thanks

Here's a link to a good drill from Hunter Mahan on creating rhythm in your swing. Personally, this has helped me a lot whenever I feel like me sequencing and tempo gets out of sync. I'll use this on the practice tee/range and it's also great mid-round (as a practice swing) to reset if I feel like I'm getting quick.

I was having issues with going full bore on swings at the practice range and on the course...I just didn't know how to slow down. This would lead to mis hits off the face, shanks and other bad stuff in general.

There are 2 things that I do to slow down my tempo:

1) I hit my 8 iron up to 160 yds. I tempo down my swing so I hit it to 120 then 130 and so on in 10 yard increments until 160. It is important that you still take it back all the way and hit it to a specific distance without choking down. This helps not just with tempo, but you can feel your tendencies of your upper body and arms trying to get ahead of you so it is easier to fix.

2) I lengthened my clubs by an inch and my wedges by 1/2 an inch. This slows down my swing and helps me feel the club head. It also helps to a point where I don't fell like I need to mash the ball every time.

I have used the orange whip with great success. It is a weighted rubber ball on the end of a whippy shaft. it works great for me. It is the only training aid other than the inside approach that I have had success with. It is readily available online and at golfsmith. I highly recommend it.

One way I have been working on my slice; I try to keep my right shoulder a little higher than normal. Also i try to cover the ball with my right shoulder as I am swinging through. Always starting the downswing with the hips first is a great tip as well. I would recommend picking one of the tips that you feel most comfortable with and sticking with it until it works. The last thing you want to do is to start over thinking your swing and filling your head with a ton of material. only bad things can happen when youre over thinking things.

Hope you find the thing that works for you. The game is much more fun when youre hitting fairways and greens.

I would just like to help clear something up that i think is a crucial misunderstanding by most amateur golfers. tempo involves time (beats per minute in music) and rhythm is the secession of movement in the golf swing. someones tempo is either quick, moderate, or slow. some drills for downswing rhythm would be to take the club to the top, pause, and continue into your finish with acceleration and balance. short game rhythm is about the sequence of your body arms and hands working together so another good drill would be to take an alignment rod and slip it into your front to belt loops across your waist and make half swings making sure not to touch the rod. if your hips out race your hands you will hurt your wrists so do not go for broke here. i hope this helps and i hope you have a better understanding of tempo and rhythm.

I am a former baseball player and am having a hard time keeping my upper body and arms from taking over my swing. The result is usually an over the top slice or a pull hook. I am looking for any tips or drills to help me keep my arms and upper body relaxed in the swing. Thanks

Here's a link to a good drill from Hunter Mahan on creating rhythm in your swing. Personally, this has helped me a lot whenever I feel like me sequencing and tempo gets out of sync. I'll use this on the practice tee/range and it's also great mid-round (as a practice swing) to reset if I feel like I'm getting quick.

First key for me is the take away. Take it back slow and smooth. Want to feel like I a keeping the club head as far from the ball as possible for full rotation. Make a smooth transition and feel like my downswing is at 80%. I usually take my practice swings at 100% to get a feel and make the real swing at 80%. Good contact on 80% swing will go just as far as miss hits at 100% normally. Last thing is I want to feel like I am throwing the toe of the club down my target line. This works for me.